Exhibition runs:
December 15, 2009 - January 8, 2010

Artist talk:
Friday, January 8th at 8pm

21ST CENTURY GHOSTS is an homage and memorial to the Tsuga Canadensis, the largest natural evergreen conifer in the eastern United States. According to the artists, "they generally stand full grown at a height of about 100 ft, but exceptional trees have been found up to 173 feet. The oldest recorded specimen was at least 554 years old.

In the early 1920's a sap-sucking bug from East Asia was introduced to the American landscape. The Hemlock Wooly Adelgid remained confined and posed relatively little threat until the 1980's when they began to spread, having catastrophic effects on the range of the Tsuga Canadensis, the most severe of which have been in the southern Appalachians. To see these Hemlock Wooly Adelgids a person can go to Shenandoah National Park where there are hundreds of hectares of effected trees. What used to be giants in the landscape can be seen now only as white ghosts towering among the green.

Unlike deciduous trees that lose their leaves these trees suck carbon out of the air year round. The effects of this change in the carbon cycle are not yet known; what is obvious is that eastern American ecosystems are changing dramatically. This is a memorial to the Tsuga Canadensis and America's eastern landscape."

Artist bios:

Cheraya Esters lives and works in Philadelphia PA. She creates wooden sculptures that deal with the blue-collar lifestyle and the evolution of labor in America. Esters' work consistently expresses the need for self-reliance and appreciation for natural materials.

Jeremy Tidd lives and works in Washington DC. He is half of the art collaborative the YAY team. Tidd is a professional gardener and draws inspiration from his intimate relationship with landscapes, both urban and wild.

December 16, 2009 - January 8, 2010

Artist Talk: Friday, January 8, 8pm.

21st Century Ghosts is an homage and memorial to the Tsuga Canadensis, the largest natural evergreen conifer in the eastern United States, featuring site-specific work by Philadelphia artist Cheraya Esters and Washington, DC-based artist Jeremy Tidd.